Chapter 26: A Love Rival Has Arrived
After several consecutive days of screening cultivation methods.
Yun Wuxiang held the final five usable manuals he had selected and compared them against one another. Among them were three Wood Spirit cultivation methods, one Ghost cultivation method, and one Demonic cultivation method.
These books were all technically usable, but each had minor flaws that prevented Yun Wuxiang from being completely satisfied. Even the highest-rated Wood Spirit method, Lush Foliage Reaching the Sky, had slight imperfections.
Yun Wuxiang picked up Lush Foliage Reaching the Sky and asked, “Lanqing, when you circulate this method, do you feel any resistance in your meridians?”
“No, I don’t know, it’s all fine,” came a voice from the side, so exhausted it sounded as if he might expire at any moment.
Yun Wuxiang shifted his gaze from the manual to the side. Shen Lanqing’s eyes were dull and lifeless, his gaze glazed over, as if his soul had left his body.
In the bronze mirror, Song Yilou poked his head out to observe that numb, sluggish face: [Guanzhu, you’ve played him until he’s silly.]
A cultivation manual landed on the mirror surface, pinning him down.
Yun Wuxiang looked at Shen Lanqing’s state, where his brain seemed to have stopped functioning, and sighed softly. “You should go back and rest first.”
Shen Lanqing: “No, I don’t know, it’s all fine.”
Yun Wuxiang: !
The air remained quiet for a long moment before Yun Wuxiang lowered his voice and called out gently, “Lanqing?”
Shen Lanqing continued to repeat: “No, I don’t know, it’s all…”
“Sleep.” Yun Wuxiang decisively cast a Sleeping Spell to make him close his eyes, then carried him back to his room, settled him in, and covered him with a quilt.
Looking at the person lying on the bed, his brows were furrowed, as if looking at something incomprehensible. upon closer inspection, there was a hint of helplessness deep in his pupils.
How did it come to this?
The bronze mirror wriggled out from under the manual: [Guanzhu, you seem terrible at teaching disciples. Do you want me to help?]
Yun Wuxiang: “No need.”
Even if he was terrible at teaching, he wouldn’t hand someone over to Song Yilou.
If he let him teach, Yun Wuxiang could already picture a day in the future where his little disciple would look at him with a face full of misguided determination and say: “Master, I want to become a Gu.”
No! Absolutely not!
Yun Wuxiang hung a Calming Talisman at the head of Shen Lanqing’s bed, then returned to stare at the five cultivation manuals, flipping through them back and forth several times.
Finally, his gaze settled on the meridian circuit diagram in Lush Foliage Reaching the Sky.
He picked up a brush and began to sketch on a blank sheet of paper.
Song Yilou watched for a while: [Guanzhu, what are you drawing?]
After outlining a single line, Yun Wuxiang glanced at the bronze mirror. His look was light, containing no killing intent, yet possessing a unique lethality: “You can’t understand it?”
[These are meridians.]
Yun Wuxiang raised an eyebrow slightly: “And then?”
[…I really hate geniuses. I want to turn the Guanzhu into a Gu so badly.]
Yun Wuxiang let out a scoffing laugh through his nose: “It seems that empty shell of a head of yours really doesn’t work very well.”
“Song Yilou, you sneaked into the Library Pavilion before, yet you only brought out a Dual Cultivation manual. Could it be that was the only one you could understand?”
So much time had passed, and he hadn’t seen Song Yilou use any spells from the Library Pavilion’s manuals. Thinking about it now, could it be that he simply never learned them?
[That’s right, the Guanzhu guessed it. When I was human, my aptitude was poor, my comprehension was lacking. Only trash like me who couldn’t do anything would be thrown into the poison kiln to feed the Gu.]
[But so what?]
Yun Wuxiang: “So nothing.”
Aptitude, comprehension—these things only limited humans. Song Yilou had long ceased to be human; he had created a bizarre path that only he could walk.
Living humans as Gu was inherently against the natural order. The fact that Song Yilou, this toxic Gu, was eventually refined was also the retribution of the Poison Mist Marsh.
Perhaps this was destined from the start. Song Yilou becoming a Gu human and later the Grand Shaman in the plot, much like Shen Lanqing inexplicably gnawing on a whole Five-Color Cloud Mushroom in his childhood, were all threads of fate laying the groundwork for the story.
Yun Wuxiang’s thoughts drifted, only to be pulled back by Song Yilou’s words: [I understood that Dual Cultivation manual completely. I guarantee that on our wedding night, the Guanzhu…]
Smack. A manual smashed onto the mirror, weighed down by a Thousand-Catty Talisman.
Throwing Song Yilou out of his mind, Yun Wuxiang continued to sketch the meridian diagram on the paper, parsing and listing the contents of the five manuals in his mind.
Unknowingly, the sunlight gradually faded. Footsteps approached, making a crisp rustling sound as they stepped on paper, followed by Shen Lanqing’s confused and surprised voice: “Master?”
Yun Wuxiang looked up from the desk. What met his eyes were sheets of paper filled with ink outlines covering the entire floor of the room.
Shen Lanqing stood at the door, his path blocked by the papers underfoot. He looked at him from a distance and said, “Shall I help you clean up?”
“No need.” Yun Wuxiang continued to sketch something with the tip of his brush. The papers all over the floor moved without wind, landing neatly on the table.
“Come here.”
Shen Lanqing’s body shuddered reflexively: “Master, we’re still testing?”
Yun Wuxiang: “Mhm.”
Shen Lanqing swallowed, stiffened his scalp, and walked over with a face full of determination, as if facing death: “Come on, Master.”
Yun Wuxiang swept a glance at his expression, which looked like he was marching to the execution ground, and reached out to tap his forehead. As the Zhenqi traveled through his body, Shen Lanqing felt his whole body lighten. An unprecedented sense of smoothness arose spontaneously, as if he had entered another unknown world.
When he came back to his senses, he heard Yun Wuxiang say: “This is the one.”
Hearing these words, Shen Lanqing almost wept with joy: “It finally works?”
“Those five manuals all had some flaws. I merged and adjusted them, mapping out a new meridian operation chart. You use this for now; we can make further adjustments later.”
As Yun Wuxiang spoke, he pulled out a dozen sheets from the stack of papers and arranged them together: “This is your cultivation method. Copy it yourself and bind it.”
Shen Lanqing didn’t fully understand but felt it was impressive. He accepted the dozen pages with reverence: “Thank you, Master!”
The next day.
Shen Lanqing ran up to Yun Wuxiang clutching a bound booklet: “Master, what is the name of this method?”
Name? Yun Wuxiang said casually: “Pick one yourself.”
“I have matters to attend to and will be away for a while. Follow Dange and cultivate diligently.”
The white crane, a head taller than a human, let out a cry in response.
Only then did Shen Lanqing notice that Yun Wuxiang had changed into lighter clothes. His wide robes and large sleeves were replaced by narrow sleeves. His immortal demeanor hadn’t diminished in the slightest; instead, it added a bit of sharp, biting edge. It was like a magnolia branch turning into a deadly weapon—an elegant, beautiful thing stained with a murderous aura, ready to take lives.
His Master… looked like he was going to kill someone.
Yun Wuxiang took the bronze mirror and left Cangfeng Island, arriving atop a high mountain. Here stood a pavilion carved from jade, spotless and flawless, exquisite beyond compare, seemingly crafted by the gods and unlike anything of the mortal world.
In front of the pavilion stood a familiar person—or rather, a familiar ghost.
Princess Shunming, wearing Bai Lingdang’s shell, leaned in the shade of a tree. Seeing him arrive, her lips didn’t move, yet her voice projected out: “Finally here.”
Yun Wuxiang landed in front of her: “Where is the person?”
He had placed a restriction on Princess Shunming that prevented her from harming people, then left this Sealed Corpse Ghost to roam free. Not long ago, he suddenly received a voice transmission from Princess Shunming saying that people from the Immortal Realm had found her.
Shen Lanqing’s premonition was correct; he was indeed here to kill.
“The person, well, is right…” Princess Shunming suddenly shouted: “Why aren’t you acting yet!”
Several figures suddenly sprang out from the nearby grass, and a large net fell from above Yun Wuxiang’s head.
The net landed, and the swords in those people’s hands pierced through the grid, stabbing into the ground.
In the next second, these people clutched their necks one after another, lost their balance, and fell to the ground.
The sky suddenly darkened.
Yun Wuxiang stood behind these people. Across the dying men, he looked at Princess Shunming: “You haven’t even fixed the cracks in your ghost domain, aren’t you afraid it will shatter completely?”
Princess Shunming lifted her chin slightly, crossing her arms and looking at him with arrogance: “Stinking Daoist, the one who’s going to suffer today is you, and that scum in the broken mirror!”
Yun Wuxiang was a bit curious who gave her such confidence.
An illusory figure appeared beside Yun Wuxiang: “Guanzhu, she cursed me. Let me go kill her. You sit here and reap the benefits, how about it?”
Yun Wuxiang backhandedly slapped a Scarlet Sun Ghost-Destroying Talisman on him, which Song Yilou dodged by bending at the waist.
Song Yilou puffed out his cheeks, looking at him resentfully: “Guanzhu~”
Yun Wuxiang retracted the talisman as if nothing had happened and said: “Go on. You two fight, I’ll watch.”
Two seconds later, Yun Wuxiang’s gaze swept over Song Yilou’s illusory ghost soul and asked: “Why aren’t you moving?”
Song Yilou pulled the corner of his mouth, the tip of a sharp canine tooth peeking out. His eyes darkened, revealing the ferocity proper to a malicious ghost: “Because a love rival has arrived.”
A figure walked out from behind Princess Shunming. Tall and upright like jade, with dragon-like features and phoenix eyes, he possessed a dashing and handsome appearance. Looking at Yun Wuxiang, the corners of his smiling fox eyes tilted upward, and the tear mole beneath his eye added a touch of charm.
It was a man with outstanding looks and a completely unfamiliar posture, yet the look he gave Yun Wuxiang held a familiar heat and greed. His eyes curved as he called out: “Guanzhu.”
That arc and spirit were identical to when Song Yilou smiled. No, he was Song Yilou.
Yun Wuxiang looked at the immortal energy radiating from him, as well as the Passage Token at his waist, and said speechlessly: “Are there so many idiots in the Immortal Realm with a death wish?”
Wasn’t it better to stay in the Immortal Realm and cultivate properly? Why come down just to deliver a body to Song Yilou?
“What does the Guanzhu think of this face?”
The stranger opposite asked, tilting his head slightly to the side as he spoke. This movement, seemingly an unconscious act of cuteness, was something Yun Wuxiang had often seen during the time Song Yilou turned into a cat.
“Can you save this disgusting flirtation until after you’ve dealt with him?”
Bai Lingdang’s corpse was already stiff. Although Princess Shunming could control it, she couldn’t make subtle expressions, so she could only express her annoyance and disgust through her eyes.
Yun Wuxiang looked at Princess Shunming: “I truly didn’t expect that you would dare to cooperate with him again.” Hadn’t she been scammed enough?
Princess Shunming had her own understanding: “I am clear about his goal; it’s nothing more than wanting to capture you and go to the Immortal Realm. As for you—your purpose, stance, identity—I know nothing. Why should I trust you?”
“Besides, this time I have already received the reward I wanted. Helping him isn’t really cooperation, I just want to see you suffer.”
The malicious ghost’s eyes were filled with naked desire for revenge and insidious malice. In her view, Song Yilou deserved to die for his empty promises, but Yun Wuxiang deserved to die even more for ordering people to destroy her ghost domain and sealing her soul!
“Hey, surnamed Song, act quickly.”
Song Yilou, who had possessed the shell of the Immortal Realm person, nodded. Yun Wuxiang raised a talisman in his hand, and the Song Yilou beside him leaned forward slightly.
The corpses in front of Yun Wuxiang suddenly sprang up and rushed toward him.
He threw the talisman, but found it had no reaction. The hand forming a seal instantly turned into a fist, knocking the walking corpses to the ground in two or three moves.
A crimson array lit up beneath his feet. Yun Wuxiang stomped down on a walking corpse that was preparing to rise again, lowered his head to scan the patterns of the array: “Spirit-Forbidden Array.”
“Something the Immortal Realm prepared for me—you two picked up quite a bargain.”
Inside the Spirit-Forbidden Array, immortal spiritual energy was suppressed, and spells could not be used. It was an array specifically designed to counter cultivators. Moreover, constructing the array required the infusion of immortal spiritual energy; clearly, this wasn’t something the two ghosts opposite could create.
His image had been transmitted back to the Immortal Realm by Bai Lingdang. If people from the Immortal Realm dared to come down, they would certainly be prepared. Bluntly put, this array was originally meant to deal with him.
“The Guanzhu is right. I waited specifically for them to finish this array before seizing the body.”
The fox-eyed Song Yilou appeared behind Yun Wuxiang, raising a hand toward Yun Wuxiang’s shoulder, only to be intercepted by another hand striking head-on, forcing him to dodge.
The bronze mirror Song Yilou, full of ghostly aura, blocked Yun Wuxiang’s back like a beast protecting its food, staring at the fox-eyed one with hostility.
The fox-eyed one also narrowed his eyes, his ferocity no less than the other’s.
While the two Song Yilous fought, Princess Shunming flashed in front of Yun Wuxiang.
“He’s occupied, but there’s still me.” A twisted smile rose on Princess Shunming’s stiff face as her black, sharp claws grabbed at him.
Both Song Yilous turned their heads to look at them simultaneously, only to see a crimson flame ignite and a terrifying baleful aura spread out.
“Ah!” Princess Shunming retreated clutching her arm, blood seeping from her ghostly eyes, her pupils trembling in uncertainty.
Amidst the intense crimson baleful aura, Yun Wuxiang opened a pair of blood-red pupils. The talisman in his hand transformed into a long sword. The usually righteous golden long sword was now vibrant as if cast from blood, radiating an overwhelming baleful aura.
“Annoying.”
Yun Wuxiang carried a hint of weariness in his brows as he swept his gaze over the three entities that were neither human nor ghost.
“All of you, die.”
With a horizontal sweep of his sword, the baleful aura shot out like a crescent scythe, attacking everyone present equally.
Recommended Reads
